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Main Wed June 6 2018

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It all has to do with usage rather than specific forms. Words change character according to the way they are most generally employed as well as the intent behind their use. 'Feminist' started as an insult, then was claimed as a badge of pride by those it was used against. 'Faggot' used to mean a mere length of wood employed as fuel for a fire and then became a slur in at least some parts of the English-speaking world. In a world without racism the N-word and its original Latin form might have been a mere indicator of colour but it is now widely considered one of the foulest slurs in the entire language... except when it is used ironically by the people it was meant to dehumanise. (I almost used 'denigrate' here, which would have been the height of irony -- I caught myself in time and looked up the etymology of the damned word and it means 'to blacken'!)

In short, whether a word is a slur, a profound offence or a mere descriptor varies with general usage, the era it is employed in, the person using it and the intent behind its use. This can be the veriest maze and the only way one can really be certain of what one is doing is to keep up with the people the word is meant to be applied to -- which means asking them, if you are not sure. There are transgender people who might not take offence at it, most of them having half a century or more to their name; theirs was a different era and they lived under different threats. But today a lot of trans people feel differently about it.

The way to go, I feel, is to use the term each individual prefers, to ask if one is unsure and to attempt to be graceful when correcting someone who uses a slur without realising and who genuinely has no ill intent. There are so-called 'activists' who will pounce on every single mistake and gleefully denounce the person making it; these tend to be shallow creatures and their actions are very much counterproductive. But there are also genuine victims who have grown very tired of having their humanity denied and we really ought to show some respect for their feelings.

Didn’t George Carlin have a skit about that?

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However, it is still Tedd's decision. Any action here should by preference be to convince her to have it out with her father. Whether Tedd's fears are reasonable or not is a moot point -- they are nonetheless real and in order for her to be able to deal as competently as possible with a heartbreakingly difficult issue, she first needs to face and master her fears. Forcing the confrontation on her when she is not ready for it may not do her any favours.

Fair enough about it being his decision. HOWEVER, his friends can at least bring to his attention the potential harm he’s doing himself by dragging it out. He might not even be aware of that harm. And he should be aware if all factors that impact his decision. And again by not telling him they are doing more harm than good.

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Fair enough about it being his decision. HOWEVER, his friends can at least bring to his attention the potential harm he’s doing himself by dragging it out. He might not even be aware of that harm. And he should be aware if all factors that impact his decision. And again by not telling him they are doing more harm than good.

Agreed, but I note that they may not be aware of that. Grace seems to be at least partially so, mind you, but being Grace I think she is very wary of being that assertive.

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Agreed, but I note that they may not be aware of that. Grace seems to be at least partially so, mind you, but being Grace I think she is very wary of being that assertive.

Speaking of Grace one of the things I like about her is she has a big, treat other people how you would want to be treated, mindset. If she sees someone in pain. I also like that her bluntness and lower social inhibitions make it easier for them to step forward to help than people who act 'sensitively' and tactfully ignore somebody's distress. While it’s clear that Grace has these aspects because she was sheltered, and not because she’s on the spectrum. It’s something that I as someone with Asperger’s can relate to.

I hope it’s ok that I talked about how I relate to Grace on a personal level like that. It’s weird, she’s not even my favorite character.

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Speaking of Grace one of the things I like about her is she has a big, treat other people how you would want to be treated, mindset. If she sees someone in pain. I also like that her bluntness and lower social inhibitions make it easier for them to step forward to help than people who act 'sensitively' and tactfully ignore somebody's distress. While it’s clear that Grace has these aspects because she was sheltered, and not because she’s on the spectrum. It’s something that I as someone with Asperger’s can relate to.

I hope it’s ok that I talked about how I relate to Grace on a personal level like that. It’s weird, she’s not even my favorite character.

By the same token I do want to point out that I am not always the best at noticing social ques in real life, but ONCE I notice they are in pain.

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The preferred vocabulary for transgender topics is still somewhat in flux--the words that were in use twentyish years ago when I first heard of such things are not the same as the current ones--blame the euphemism treadmill for that.

Based on euphemism treadmill for people with different skin colors still running (but finally slowing), I expect this one wouldn't stop before consuming half of English vocabulary. Unless the majority of people realize that destroying vocabulary WONT help make people more accepting to differences.

13 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

There's a reason to think "dragon" here that may fit the storyline quite well. Magus/Ellen is obsessed with fighting dragons. But Moperverse Ellen has sort of become a dragon. Maybe Dan is laying groundwork for Magus realizing that the dragons of his universe are also people?

Not necessary - even if by "people" you mean sentient/sapient. For start, Magus might already know. However, there definitely is some big reveal about dragons coming - that dragon behind Pandora was definitely foreshadowing for it, AND if THIS would be it, Dan wouldn't try to deny it. Also, Ellen will certainly transform again.

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Based on euphemism treadmill for people with different skin colors still running (but finally slowing), I expect this one wouldn't stop before consuming half of English vocabulary. Unless the majority of people realize that destroying vocabulary WONT help make people more accepting to differences.

Didn’t Geore Carlin have a skit about that?

The problem with that is it’s trying to make words control thought. That doesn’t really work that well. You can’t force things on other people. HOWEVER what you can do as an INDIVIDUAL is try to let YOUR THOUGHTS control YOUR ACTIONS. Kind of like how Duck and Larry did.

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The problem with that is it’s trying to make words control thought. That doesn’t really work that well. You can’t force things on other people.

Some nice people named Dr. Goebbels and Adolf Hitler disagreed with that. And there is unfortunately a good deal of evidence that it has some effect at least. Especially if you control a large chunk of the media or even all of it.

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The problem with that is it’s trying to make words control thought. That doesn’t really work that well. You can’t force things on other people.

Some nice people named Dr. Goebbels and Adolf Hitler disagreed with that. And there is unfortunately a good deal of evidence that it has some effect at least. Especially if you control a large chunk of the media or even all of it.

The fact so many people want to imitate them is sort of proof of that by itself.

However, I suspect that some things are easier and some harder. Bringing into front the worst people are hiding is not that hard, for example. On the other hand, making people think is very hard. Not that it would be something media and people controlling them would actually like ...

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However, I suspect that some things are easier and some harder. Bringing into front the worst people are hiding is not that hard, for example. On the other hand, making people think is very hard. Not that it would be something media and people controlling them would actually like ...

It is much, much easier to stampede people into running downhill than it is to lead them into climbing uphill.